Legendary investor Bill Miller is the former chairman and chief investment officer of Legg Mason Capital Management. He has been named fund manager of the decade by Morningstar and ranked as the top 30 most influential people in investing by SmartMoney. Below is an edited summary of his interview with The Investor’s Podcast where he talks about determining the intrinsic value of various companies like Amazon, Apple, and Tesla Motors.
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Preston Pysh: How does your approach differ from other famous value investors like Warren Buffett or Joel Greenblatt?
Bill Miller: Every value investor has a unique style, and my difference is that I am more eclectic. Buffett has said that he has moved on from the old Benjamin Graham style of deep values to a style that favors purchasing solid businesses at fair prices that compound on themselves. I am comfortable with both methods. Greenblatt used to prefer a concentrated style with high returns on capital, but now he has hundreds of companies with good financial characteristics in order to lower the volatility. On the contrary, I am skeptical of volatility. Since the financial crisis, volatility has been the price for performance in the risk-averse environment. I am willing to tolerate a lot more perceived risk in the portfolio than most other value investors.
Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: CYS Investments, Inc.(CYS)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Amanda Alix]
As the spread between short-term and long-terminterest rates began to contract, strangling profits, competition for MBSes also caused prices to rise. Other agency mREITs were nervous, too. CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS ) noted at the time that QE3 turned the Federal Reserve into the sector’s biggest rival for mortgage bonds, and as spreads began to shrink, so did dividends. By December of last year, Annaly, Armour, and Capstead Mortgage (NYSE: CMO ) had all trimmed their payouts.
Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Graco Inc.(GGG)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Joel Elconin]
At this time, the only relevant news to the Gold market and Gold stocks was the halt of Graco Inc. (NYSE: GGG), which was down $0.80 at $84.64 and just reopened at $82.20.
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Thursday, industrials shares fell by 0.83 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Graco Inc. (NYSE: GGG), down 9 percent, and Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV), down 11 percent.
Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
Not all financial sector stocks are screaming buys right now. In fact, Visa Inc. (V) is a prominent one that’s showing the opposite type of technical trajectory this week. Visa sold off hard on Monday, declining more than 4% in a move that analysts pinned on investors eschewing card payment companies because of excessive ex-U.S. revenue exposure and the increased attractiveness of actual card issuers, like banks, in a rising rate environment.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Of the three other stocks closest to Boeing’s yearly gain, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) added more than 2% to close the week up 51% for the year to date; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) rose by about 0.8% to a gain of more than 48%; and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) tacked on 0.9% to bring its annual gain to 43.5%.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) traded up 1.45% at $82.26. The stock’s 52-week range is $66.12 to $83.96. Volume was about 30% below the daily average of around 10.6 million shares. The company had no specific news Friday.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA) aren’t the only two players in the credit card and electronic payments space, but they are the biggest and best-known. Both Visa and MasterCard have extended their reach across the globe, and both have high expectations in their trajectories for future growth. Yet after a big push in the stock market that has sent both of these financial stocks to all-time highs, investors need to know which of the two leaders in the card industry is more deserving of their attention. Let’s take a closer look at Visa and MasterCard, comparing them using several different metrics to see which company’s shares are the better buy.
Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Cott Corporation(COT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Dan Moskowitz]
Cott (NYSE: COT ) produces and sells over 200 different types of beverages in over 50 countries, and it implements a highly effective strategy. Cott is what is known as a Fast Follower, which makes it unique to other beverage companies.
Top 5 Warren Buffett Stocks To Own Right Now: Eagle Materials Inc(EXP)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Shares of construction materials leader Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) set new all-time highs earlier this year, although the stock’s recent surge was catalyzed by the announcement of fiscal second-quarter 2017 results in late October. At the time, the company set record revenues and more than doubled earnings per share from the prior-year period. That was followed by a new high watermark for quarterly sales in the fiscal third quarter of 2017, which ended in December, marking the third consecutive quarter in which record revenue was established.
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Thursday, basic materials shares fell by 1.10 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included Mechel PAO (ADR) (NYSE: MTL), down 8 percent, and Eagle Materials, Inc. (NYSE: EXP), down 6 percent.
- [By David Sterman]
Of course, in many cyclical industries, it’s impossible to maintain very strong growth rates when the economy slumps. And that was a lesson learned by Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP(link is external)), a maker of drywall, cement and other materials used in homebuilding. Eagle experienced solid growth a decade ago, but when the housing market tanked, so did Eagle’s revenue base. Sales fell by half from fiscal 2007 through fiscal 2011 (to around $460 million).
Yet even before the pace of home construction returns to normal levels, Eagle is again experiencing solid growth: Sales are now growing at a 30% pace and are expected to surpass $1.1 billion in the current fiscal year, which began this month. That’s 25% higher than the peak in fiscal 2007, and it’s setting the stage for solid profit growth: Earnings per share (EPS) are growing at a 50% pace these days, a pace which could be sustained for an extended period if the housing market finally starts to grow at a solid clip.
